The 847th MIB Seminar
(Joint Usage/Research Center for the Multi-stratified Host Defense System)
Title
Guardian Autoimmunity: How Endogenous Regulatory Peptides Modulate Brain Autoimmunity
Speaker
Dr. Min Woo Kim (Ph.D.)
Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Date
Dec. 2 (Mon), 2024
16：00〜17：00
Venue
Lecture Room 102, 1F, Biomedical Research Station, Hospital Campus
No.34 on the following linked map.
Campus Map
Abstract
The rediscovery of a bona fide network of lymphatics in the meninges, membranous coverings enveloping the central nervous system (CNS), galvanized a need to reevaluate CNS immune privilege. Indeed, with intimate interactions occurring between brain-resident and adaptive immune cells at the borders of the brain, this physical reconnection between the CNS and the peripheral immune system brings attention to an intriguing question. How does the CNS retain responsivity to immunological inputs while maintaining immune privilege? In searching for molecular cues deriving from the CNS that would allow direct communication with the adaptive immune system, we discovered a repertoire of CNS-derived endogenous peptides presented on major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II) molecules. A preponderance of these endogenous MHC II-bound peptides were found to be bound throughout the path of lymphatic drainage beginning from the brain to its surrounding meninges and its draining cervical lymph nodes. During neuroinflammatory disease, however, the presentation of these endogenous peptides drastically diminished. By then resupplying the CNS with these endogenous peptides, a population of suppressor CD4+ T cells expanded locally that sufficiently suppressed against CNS autoimmunity. Moreover, isolation of these CD4+ T cells further clarified and provided novel mechanistic insight to their suppressive function, adding another layer of protection at the brain borders. Collectively, these findings elucidate a pivotal function for endogenous self-peptides in CNS immunosurveillance and in the maintenance of CNS immune privilege.
References
- Min Woo Kim et al. Endogenous self-peptides guard immune privilege of the central nervous system. Nature, 2024.
Contact
Division of Allergy and Immunology, Medical Institute of Bioregulation
Minako Ito
TEL: 092 (642) 6965